Many states recently switched to using the sedative pentobarbital to carry out lethal injections due to supply problems with thiopental, the previous go-to execution drug.

But the Danish pharmaceutical company that makes pentobarbital has announced that it will investigate steps it can take to prevent prisons from using the drug, which is used to treat acute epileptic seizures.

Lundbeck’s Chief Executive Ulf Wiinberg is weighing a number of options to cut off drug supplies to prisons, including switching to specialist wholesalers that might be able to distribute the drug in a more restrictive manner. Here’s a report from WSJ on the development.

Lundbeck has long voiced its opposition to the use of the drug for executions, but the company previously said that it could not prevent prisons from acquiring it, short of taking it off the market — a move the company is loath to do because it could hurt the patients who use it.

“When we first learned of this misuse of our drug we went public and protested strongly to the relevant prison governors and state politicians,” Lundebeck CEO Ulf Wiinberg told WSJ. “When it comes to distribution, we are exploring different ways to ensure that the drug is used as intended and there are several options you can consider—we haven’t finalized the plan yet but I’m hoping we’ll have one fairly soon.”

He said the Danish State is also trying to help. Like most European countries, Denmark opposes capital punishment.

Jens Faerkel, a counselor at Denmark’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Copenhagen, confirmed today that the Danish ambassador in Washington has written to the governors of the states which have switched to pentobarbital, WSJ reports.

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